Breaking Dawn

Virus: Breaking Dawn

HOAX

Example:[Collected via e-mail, August 2011]

WARNING* *WARNING* *WARNING* *WARNING* *GAMING FRIENDS - TAKE NOTE !!!! : This was on CNN this morning. Do not click on a link that says it is a game for Twilight the Movie "BREAKING DAWN", it will have a picture and
everything. This is not associated with FB. FB says this is the worst virus ever!!! PLEASE REPOST FOR YOUR FRIEND

Origins: The warning listed above about Facebook users being tricked into clicking on what they thought was a game associated with one of the Twilight movies began spreading in April 2011.

There is no such virus, let alone one labeled by CNN and Facebook as the "worst virus ever!!!" (That little flourish is common to a number of other virus hoaxes, including the venerable
Invitation or Olympic Torch and Black in the White House.)

In April 2011, scammers were tricking people into a "survey scam" by clickjacking those that attempted to access a fictitious game named Twilight: Breaking Dawn. The "Play Now" button in the enticing graphic sent out a "like" message to the clicker's address book, thus spreading the scam to further potential victims. As for the person who clicked the button, he was instead taken to a "Complete this survey" page, on the promise that once he did so, he'd be allowed to get to the game.

Survey scams generate revenue for the people behind them, in that every completed survey results in cash in their pockets. In July 2011, the unwary were tricked in this fashion via promises of a "spider under the skin" and "Casey Anthony confession" videos.